Broncos should sign Clady, but there’s no rush Lard

Douglas LeeJul 18, 2012 7:59 AM

Good Morning, Broncos fans! Mike Klis reports that contract negotiations between the Broncos and the representatives for LT Ryan Clady are rather far apart. Klis says a deal is unlikely to be done by the beginning of training camp next week, but there is no significance to such a timeline.

Clady is under contract for 2012 at a $3.5M salary ($4.918M cap number), and the team can certainly use its franchise tag on him following the season ($9.3M this year, likely a shade higher next year), and they could do so again the year after that, if necessary. Time is on Denver's side, and as we view it, they essentially have a year to lock Ryan up with a long-term contract.

Presumably both sides would like to get something done sooner than that, but there's really nothing freakout-worthy here. If Clady wants to make more than $3.5M this season (yes, he deserves it, even if he's not been playing as well as he did his first two years), then he'll probably have to agree to a deal within the next month and a half. But midseason extensions happen too, so there's always that.

Paying one of the better (no, we're not calling him elite) left tackles around $9M-10M next season wouldn't be the worst thing, either. And Ryan is still quite young, as he turns 26 in September. So health-willing, he should be pretty good for the length of two multiyear contracts from now. If the team isn't sure about keeping him around ($), they can always draft a tackle high in next April's draft, and let Clady play out a franchise tag for a year or even two if necessary for the draftee's development.

But whatever the Broncos do, it is pretty clear they don't already have anyone on the roster apt to take over the position a year from now.

No, an elite LT isn't necessary - nor one even in the top half of the league, as Ted has pointed out several times of late - but acquiring a decent one requires either a high draft choice or big bucks in free agency.

Might as well sign the guy they've got. But there's no rush to do so.

Anyway, there's my opinion. Let's see yours, with our very first poll below. As David mentioned earlier, you don't have to be a registered commenter to vote.

Broncos

According to SI, Peyton Manning remains the highest-paid NFLer when combining salary and endorsements, and at least in this instance, they are eschewing the reader-abusive slideshow often used for these purposes.

Mario Fannin tells the official site that the injury which cost him his rookie season provided him the time to learn the pro game better, in terms of absorbing the playbook and understanding how better to pick up the blitz.

Also in a Q&A with the official site, defensive quality control coach Cory Undlin says he's worked with the defensive line before under Jack Del Rio, who brought him over from Jacksonville. Oh, and Undlin may be another spy for Hoodie Sr., under whom he coached earlier in his career.

Sam Davis previews the linebacker position for the official site, shockingly without mention of D.J. Williams's six-game suspension. Obviously we don't expect them to discuss it, but it happens to be the most important topic relating to the linebackers this season.

Even if it's at Doom's expense, it's good to see that one of the billboards used to fan the Tebowmania flames is now being repurposed in a humorous manner.

The oddsmakers at MGM currently have the Broncos at 7/1 SB odds, trailing the Niners(4/1!), Packers and Patriots (both 6/1).

Russ Lande figures Knowshon Moreno and fellow 2009 AFCW first-rounders Larry English and Tyson Jackson are in danger of being cut this summer.

Over at the Worldwide Leader, Cris Carter and Marcellus Wiley discuss the Broncos' 2012 prospects. It's part of an AFCW special which reairs tonight and tomorrow night, I believe on ESPN2.

Trimmings

Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch reportedly had two near-collisions before his DUI arrest; here are more details of the allegations against 23-year-old Cowboys WR Dez Bryant, accused of domestic violence against his 37-year-old mother.

Greg Cosell details Dick LeBeau's role in increasing the prevalance of the zone blitz, and the ZB's evolution into a sub-package staple.

Chase Stuart's look at Pythagorean wins finds Peyton Manning, Jake Plummer, and John Elway are/were all either really clutch or really lucky. Probably a combination of both, of course.

Scott Kacsmar goes into even more detail on the Packers and Aaron Rodgers's mighty struggles in the fourth quarter. Great as he is, he's no John Elway - not that any of us didn't know that before, right?

It really is funny that after Jeremy Lin gave people an actual reason to give a flying f$%# about the Knicks this year, that some people think Lin "owes" Jim Dolan, who happens to be one of the worst, and dumbest, owners in all of pro sports.

Ryan Clady has one year and $3.5M remaining on his rookie contract. What should the Broncos do about him long-term?

Clady is eligible for free agency next year, and the franchise tag for tackles is currently at $9.3M for one year. It will likely be incrementally higher than that figure next year. Clady's play has dropped off a bit over the past two years, but he's still only 25 (he'll turn 26 in September) and widely considered as being among the top half of the league's left tackles. The QB switch to the lightning-fast decision-maker Peyton Manning from the scramble-prone Tim Tebow should make Clady's job easier and his performance look better.

Sign him ASAP! Denver still has leverage, so this shouldn't be a record-breaking contract.

Let him play out his final year; we need to see Ryan return to form first.

He's not that good, or he's not worth the dough. Draft a replacement next April, and let Clady walk.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

"I believe in making the world a better place for our children. But not our Children's children, because children shouldn't be having sex." Jack Handy

Posted by OutOfYourElement on 2012-07-18 16:39:01

hearing the 911 call made me think his mother was in her sixties not 30's.

I was shocked to do that math like you did,

kids just should not have kids..

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-07-18 12:43:05

Poll works on my computer and my Android phone. Looking good guys. And as always thanks for helping me stay sane through the doldrums.

Posted by Myron Giddings Jr on 2012-07-18 11:03:04

"here are more details of the allegations against 23-year-old Cowboys WR Dez Bryant, accused of domestic violence against his 37-year-old mother."

37 - 23 = 14

Posted by A R on 2012-07-18 10:35:11

Now I got it.

Posted by Cain Mahan on 2012-07-18 10:05:39

I am still getting the error (chrome).

Posted by Cain Mahan on 2012-07-18 10:01:57

Works now, voted first option. Pay the man and focus on rest of OL.

Posted by ohiobronco on 2012-07-18 09:41:54

Gentlemen, we should be good to go. Try giving the poll another shot.

Posted by David Singer on 2012-07-18 09:37:57

Same here, poll did not work on android or chrome fyi. Having said that, I dig the new design and polls, nice work guys.

Posted by Kriss Bergethon on 2012-07-18 09:35:36

Andy Featherstone it's an error that didn't pop up in testing. We're getting it too, and working as quickly as possible to resolve it.

Posted by David Singer on 2012-07-18 09:35:12

I'm getting an error on the poll:

The form you submitted contained the following errors

Missing Data.(3) Return to Previous Page

Posted by Andy Featherstone on 2012-07-18 09:22:58

Thanks for the Lard, Doug.You've almost made it. Don't know how you find all of this stuff to carry us through the dry spell. Just one more week and we'll be discussing things that are actually happening on a field somewhere.

Posted by Alaskan on 2012-07-18 09:22:36

My guess is that playing with PMFM will help make Clady Appear better, just as playing with Orton and TT (for different reasons) made him look worse than he really is. For that reason, I would try to sign him by midseason. Guy has been a class act for the organization as far as I know and is a Player I'd like to keep around for a long time.